Coin controlled lock



March 6, 1962 w. F. STACKHOUSE 3,023,875

COIN CONTROLLED LOCK 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1959 4/ 72 fiweizi'ofl:

Weiis F siucidiaome, 5 by mun. mam. wnm & mumsm March 6, 1962 w. F. STACKHOUSE 3,023,875

COIN CONTROLLED LOCK 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 10, 1959 12208223303 WeZZSFGWwzwe, Q9

KENWAY, JENNEY, WHTER & HILDRETH fli'iba qy March 1962 w. F. STACKHOUSE 3,023,875

COIN CONTROLLED LOCK Filed June 10, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 5 KENWAY, 12mm, WflTER & mwnm.

3,023,875 COIN CONTRGLLED LOCK Wells F. Stackhouse, Andover, Mass, assignor to American Locker Company, Inc., Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 10, 1959, Ser. No. 819,436 7 Claims. (Cl. 194-92) This invention relates to coin controlled locks of the nature employed in parcel checking cabinets. Considerable trouble has been experienced due to mischievous and irresponsible persons attempting to beat the lock and thus secure service without payment of the required coin or coins. Locks heretofore used have ordinarily employed a feeler pawl which serves to prevent locking of the cabinet until the required coin has been deposited, contact of the feeler portion of the pawl with the deposited coin serving to hold the pawl withdrawn and permit locking of the cabinet door. Thus this feeler type of control requires an abutment (coin) to hold the pawl disengaged and attempts have been made to beat the lock as by stuffing paper and other material into the lock to serve as an abutment for this purpose. The production of an improved control mechanism which will eliminate this ditficulty by requiring a subsequent and final dropping of the coin by gravity to a lower level in the lock and wherein it serves to effect release of the bolt holding pawl comprises a primary object of the invention.

The coin controlled lock comprising my invention embodies a locking bolt mounted on a rotary lock barrel and disposed to move therewith forwardly and rearwardly through an arcuate path to and from door locking and retracted positions respectively. The bolt is normally prevented from full forward movement by a latch and can be thus moved to door locking position only upon the depositing of the required coin or coins in the look. A slight gap is present between the door and the adjacent margin of the cabinet and attempts have been made to beat the lock by forcing the bolt to door locking position by means of a thin instrument projected through this gap. Such attempts usually break the latch and cause considerable damage. A further novel feature of the invention resides in mechanism for preventing this damage by permitting such a forced forward movement of the bolt relative to the lock barrel and latch, thereby preventing any permanent damage to the lock. .In its preferred form this mechanism includes resilient means normally retaining the bolt in its retracted position relative to the barrel and latch. The production of such novel mechanism as and for the purpose described comprises a further object of the invention.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which-- FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a bank of checking cabinets employing my improved coin controlled lock,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the lock in unlocked position,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary left side elevation of the lock showing two coins deposited therein,

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the lock showing two coins deposited therein md the locking bolt rotated to a forwardly advanced position.

FIG. 5 illustrates the same with the bolt in retracted position,

FIG. 6 is a right side elevation of the lock,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary portion of FIG. 3 showing the top coin dropped to a lower elevation,

' FIG. 8.

BfiZifiS Patented Mar. 6, 1952 fig FIG. 8 is a front elevation showing the bolt in door locking position,

FIG. 9 is a view like FIG. 7 but showing the coins released,

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken on on line ilkit of FIG. 2.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken on line 11-11 of FIG. 4,

FIG. 11a is a view in perspective of two pivoted levers employed in the lock, and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the lock.

In the drawings 10 indicates a bank of coin controlled checking cabinets and 12 indicates the closure door of one of the cabinets. The lock mechanism 14 is secured to a marginal portion of the cabinet in position to cooperate with and lock the door. This lock mechanism comprises a body member 15 having a front plate 16 secured thereto and disposed over and filling an opening through the cabinet wall, the lower end of the plate being provided with a lip 18 engaging behind the cabinet wall and the upper end being equipped with a lock at 20 for securing the front plate in place.

A lock barrel 22 including a removable key receiving portion 23, is rotatably mounted in a cradle portion 24 of the body 15. A door locking bolt 26 is mounted on the barrel to rotate therewith forwardly and rearwardly to door locking and released positions respectively as shown in FIGS. 8 and 2. A gear segment 27 fixed to a shaft 29. is provided with teeth in mesh with teeth 28 on the barrel for normally rotating the barrel to the retracted position of FIG. 2 by means of a spring 30 and connections therefrom to the shaft, all as more specifically described in Patent 2,437,742. In FIGS. 4 and 5 I have illustrated the bolt 26 (shown in broken lines) as removed from the lock barrel for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the mechanism therebeneath.

The lock barrel 22 and bolt 26 are normally held in the retracted position of FIG. 2 by the spring 30 but can be rotated forwardly to the position indicated in FIG. 4 which position is short of the'door locking position shown in Further forward rotation is prevented by a latch comprising a lever 32 pivoted at 34 and having an offset tooth 35 disposed inthe path of movement of a lug 36 on the barrel 22. A spring 38 anchored at one end to a post 39 and attached to the lever 32 at its other end normally pivots the lever and tooth 35 outwardly to the inoperative position of FIG. 5 wherein the tooth 35 is outside the path of movement of the lug 36. An element 40 also pivoted at 34 has a coin intercepting portion 42 disposed to project into a coin slot 43. A spring 44 anchored at one end to the body 15 and attached at its other end to an arm 46 normally pivots the element 44 clockwise and projects the portion 42 into the coin slot (FIG. 2). An offset end 48 of the lever 32 is so disposed forwardly of the element 40 as to engage the element (FIG. 2) and limit outward movement of the tooth 35 to the operative position shown in FIG. 2 wherein it is adapted to be engaged by the lug 36. The tooth 35 and lug 36 have coengaging beveled surfaces disposed to move the tooth inwardly and pivot the lever 32 clockwise to the position illustrated when the barrel and bolt are rotated forwardly to the stop position of FIG. 4.

The element 40 carries a tooth 50 disposed in the path of movement of a cam 51 on the barrel 22, the cam being so located that it engages the tooth and pivots the element counterclockwise when the barrel approaches the stop position of FIG. 4. Such movement of the element 40 pulls the coin intercepting portion 42 outwardly of the coin slot. When the barrel is rotated counterclockwise from the position of FIG. 4, the spring 44 normally rotates the element 40 clockwise and provides contact for the olfset 48 that maintains the lever 32 and tooth 35 in said operative position. The tip end of the portion 42 of the element 40 is recessed at 52 to thereupon receive a coin thereinto for a purpose hereinafter described.

Locks of this nature are constructed to require the depositing of one or a predetermined plurality of coins thereinto and the lock herein illustrated requires two such coins 53. The bottom coin is held in the coin slot magazine between a leaf spring 54 and the laterally disposed end 55 of an arm 56 pivoted at 58. The top coin rests on the bottom coin and against the coin intercepting portion 42 of the element 40. The arm 56 is held downwardly in the coin supporting position of Fig. 3 by said portion 42 extending over the free end of an arm 60 integral with the arm '56.

When the coins are deposited, the bottom coin is trapped between 54 and 55 and the top coin rests thereon and rolls downwardly against the non-recessed portion of 42 (FIGS. 2, 3 and When the barrel and bolt are rotated from the position of FIG. 2 to the position of FIG. 4 the coengaging beveled surfaces of the tooth 35 and lug 36 pivot the lever 32 clockwise and the cam 51 pivots the element 40 counterclockwise, both to the position of FIG. 4. In'this position of the portion 42 the recess 52 is disposed opposite to the top coin which thereupon drops by gravity into the recess (FIG. 11). When the barrel and bolt are returned to the position of FIG. 5 a shoulder formed by the recess (-FIG. 11) abutsagainst the coin within the recess and prevents return of the portion 42 into the coin slot and the element 40 is thereby held in the position illustrated. The spring 38 thereupon functions to pivot the lever 32 anti-clockwise and move the tooth 35 to its inoperative position outside of the path of -movement of the lug 36. The barrel and bolt can thereupon be rotated to the door locking position of FIG. 8.

- When the parts are thus rotated the higher part of the cam 51 pivots the element 40 and portion 42 outwardly to the position freeing the arm 60, the arm 56 thereupon pivoting upwardly and releasing the coins (FIGS. 8 and 9). Thus it will be apparent that the lock can be rotated to door locking position only after the top coin has dropped by gravity into the recess 52. The lock is operated by a key 62 which is removable from the lock only when the lock is in the door locking position of FIG. 8, the key thereupon serving as a check and which thereafter can be used to reopen the cabinet.

A further novel feature of the invention relates to the mounting of the bolt 26 on the rotary lock barrel 22. The barrel comprises the disk-like portion 22 mounted on and rotatable with a forwardly projecting cylindrical portion 64 and the bolt 26 includes a. ring or bushing 66 therein mounting the bolt on and rotatable relative to the cylindrical portion 64. A spring 68 comprising a flat metal strip of arcuate configuration is mounted on the bolt and extends about a forwardly projecting portion of the bushing 66. One end of the spring is anchored to the bolt by a pin 70 and the other end is anchored to the barrel by a pin 72 fixed to and extending forwardly from the portion 22 of the barrel. The spring normally contracts to the position shown in FIG. 8 in which position the bolt is fully retracted (counterclockwise) relative to the barrel 22-64. If an attempt is made to force the bolt from the latched position of FIG. 4 to the cabinet locking position of FIG. 8, as by means of a thin instrument projected through the gap between the door and the adjacent margin of the cabinet, such force merely expands the spring which permits idle rotation of the bolt on the barrel. When the force is withdrawn the spring automatically returns the bolt to retracted position and no damage has been caused to the latch 85-36 or other parts of the lock. While in its preferred form the bolt is thus provided with means for automatically returning it to retracted position it is to be understood that the spring can be eliminated and the bolt mounted for limited frictional rotation on and relative to the barrel. In such case the bolt will need to be manually returned to retracted position following forced forward movement thereof on the barrel.

Having thus disclosed my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

l. A coin controlled lock comprising in combination, a; door locking bolt mounted for movement forwardly and rearwardly to door locking and released positions respec tively, means including a latch permitting forward move ment of the bolt toward but short of door locking position when the latch is in operative position, means normally moving the latch to inoperative position, meansprovidmg a coin slot in the lock, a pivoted element having a com intercepting portion, resilient means normally pivoting the element to a position projecting said portion into com; intercepting position in the slot, means for partially withdrawing said portion from the coin slot when the locking; bolt is moved forwardly to the position permitted by the latch, cooperating means carried by said element and latch for maintaining the latch in operative pos tion, and means whereby a coin supported on said portion drops by gravity to a lower level when said portion IS thUS partially withdrawn and including a shoulder on sand portion for engaging said dropped coin and thus limitingthe return of said portion into the coin slot to a positlon m which said cooperating means is ineffective and permits the second named means to move the latch to said inoperative position.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said means whereby a coin supported on said portion drops by gravity comprises a coin receiving recess disposed in that area of said coin intercepting portion that comes beneath the coin when said portion is thus partially withdrawn.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said pivoted element is disposed to engage a portion of the latch and hold the latch in said operative position when said resilient means has pivoted the element to its foremost position, and in which the door locking bolt is mounted on and movable with a barrel rotatably mounted in the lock and said means including a latch also includes a lug on the barrel disposed to engage an arresting portion of the latch when the latch is held in said operative position.

4. A coin controlled lock including in combination, a

I barrel rotatably mounted in the look, a door locking bolt operatively associated with the barrel and movable therewith forwardly and rearwardly to door locking and released positions respectively, means including a latch ad jacent to the barrel and movable to operative and inoperative positions and permitting in its operative position forward movement of the barrel toward but short of door locking position, and means mounting the bolt for limited forward movement on the barrel relative to the barrel and latch.

5. The combination defined in claim 4 plus means normally holding the bolt in fully retracted position relative to the barrel.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 in which said means normally holding the bolt in fully retracted position comprises an arcuate spring surrounding the barrel and having its two ends anchored respectively to the barrel and bolt.

7. The combination defined in claim 6 in which the arcuate spring comprises a flat metal strip disposed in a plane normal to the rotary axis of the barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

